Dec 8, 2018 2 min read

COAL CENTER – Washington won the inaugural Trojans Tipoff Tournament girls basketball title Saturday afternoon with a 58-32 victory over host California Saturday afternoon.

“I am happy with the win but we still need a lot of improvement,” said first-year Washington coach Ron Moore. “The energy is there and the chemistry is coming along in the long run.”

California coach Chris Niemiec said foul trouble hurt his team.

“Despite the loss, I am very happy with our effort,” he said. “When we got into foul trouble, we went into our bench and the girls played hard.”

The contest was officiated close early, and both teams racked up a significant number of fouls in the first half.

California (1-1), already playing without junior Charlee Petrucci, only dressed nine players and had three pick up three fouls in the first half.

With the game tied 6-6 in the first quarter, Washington took advantage of Cal’s limited depth to close the quarter on a 7-2 run to take a 13-8 lead into the second quarter.

Washington (2-0) went on a 7-0 run to start the second quarter and extended its lead to 26-16 at halftime.

The Prexies outscored the Trojans 19-7 in the third quarter to secure the win. Moore had his team working until the last minute on their press defense and other aspects of the game.

“I think we have four returning starters but everybody has been positive,” he said. “We have to pull together as a unit and fight through adversity and play with class.”

Niemiec said the team will take positives from the game.

“We are down to nine girls, our younger girls are starting to get experience and it is needed,” he said. “The pressure and speed here is different than it is in junior high and the experience will only help.

“We will take experience and team work out of this game and the girls believe that they can compete.”

Torri Finley (16), Carley Allen (10) and Randi Thomas (10) scored in double figures for Washington while Makayla Boda took scoring honors for California with 11 points.